Why do so many titles say c1860?

The decade counts cluster hard on the 1860s, with the 1880s behind, and "c1860" is written into 103 titles. Thirty-four of those are dog pairs. It works as trade shorthand for mid-Victorian rather than a documented year. Over 500 entries in the category carry an era label such as "19th Century" or "Victorian" instead of a year at all.

Are Staffordshire dogs always sold in pairs?

Not always, but pairing is the norm. "Pair" appears in 461 of 1,137 titles, and dogs are the largest single group of models within that. Singles are listed too, and so are larger lots. Collections of four, five and six dogs have come through, along with a group of hens on nests and, once, sixty-one nineteenth-century pottery sheep as one lot.

What animals besides dogs turn up?

Cows, sheep, cats and lions form a steady band, with cow creamers and hen-on-nest crocks crossing into the tableware side. The wider archive holds zebras, a Bactrian camel, an elephant named Jumbo, roc birds, cockerels, rabbits, a pouring swan and Medici lions. Spaniels, greyhounds and poodles still outnumber all of them.

Is Staffordshire pottery or porcelain?

Pottery, in practice. "Pottery" appears in 278 titles against "porcelain" in just 30, and the body throughout is earthenware. The earlier pieces are named by body type instead: pearlware in 39 titles, prattware in 16, with creamware behind them.

Which pieces sit at the top of the range?

Early eighteenth-century work and the scarcest animal pairs. The highest-placed samples include a 1750s figure, a 1760s cauliflower teapot and a 1780s bust. Among the animals, rabbits and pipe-smoking dogs sit high, while the standard seated spaniel pair fills the middle. One odd strand sits apart: South Staffordshire enamel, a Bilston bird patch box, a bonbonniere and an etui, where everything else is earthenware.

How much comes to market each year?

Around 147 listings a year on Sellingantiques, and 112 different dealers have listed in the category. That is one of the widest dealer bases in ceramics, which is why the same forms recur in so many variations of colour, size and subject.

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Antique Staffordshire

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Earthenware made in the North Staffordshire potteries: painted figures and animal models for the mantelpiece, sold in their thousands as cheap chimney ornaments, alongside printed and moulded tableware for the table.